My Crazy Freshman Year
by OnlyScribbles
Summary: Love. Hate. Friendship. Hurt. Ruthie's crazy freshman year.


_**Disclaimer: I do not own "7th Heaven" or anything affiliated with it.**_

**Author's Notes:  **

** - In the future, "My Crazy Freshman Year" will feature original characters, but I don't own anything mentioned in this first chapter. **

**- Please feel free to leave a review at the end of this chapter to better my writing skills and to help me take notice of any spelling/grammar errors. But keep in mind that I am taking artistic license as far as facts, ages, and names go. I am open to any constructive criticism you are willing to give, but if it's too far into the story to change a name, age, or fact then I am afraid I will have to leave it uncorrected.**

**- Enjoy! If this story is a success, then I will definitely consider writing a sequel!**

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"Ruthie, can I come in?"

Ruthie Camden was sitting on her bed, reading a magazine to help calm her nerves. Tomorrow was her first day of high school, and she didn't know what to expect. On one hand it could be just another school year…and then it could also be much harder and much more demanding than she could even begin to fathom. That's why she tried to fill her head with pointless celebrity gossip and cheap fashion tips – to occupy her mind so that she could maybe, at some point in the night, sleep.

"Sure, it's not like I'm sleeping."

Martin walked into the attic bedroom and sat down in a chair, eyeing Ruthie curiously. She could be so hard to read sometimes…and yet, he sensed that something was wrong. He hoped she would speak, but she simply stared at him as if waiting for his excuse for interrupting her reading.

"Are you okay?" he asked, allowing his big-brother instincts to start the conversation for him. He watched her make a face, then sigh.

"No, I guess not. I mean, weren't you nervous about your first day of high school?"

"Yeah, but I didn't have anyone to tell me what to expect."

Silence followed that statement.

"So...do you have any questions?"

"Well…yeah, I guess so. Is the work harder?"

"Not if you've been paying attention in class these past four years."

"Are the teachers mean?"

"Some of them, but didn't you have a mean teacher last year?"

"Yeah, that's true. I swear she rode a broomstick to school!"

"A real witch, huh?"

"What do you think?"

"Ha, ha…"

"So, next question: Are the people there hard to get along with?"

"For the most part they aren't. You just have to follow your instincts."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean don't hang out with people that you don't trust."

"Oh."

"Yep, follow your instincts."

"Okay. Well, that's all. Thanks, Martin."

"No problem."

The conversation was short, but satisfying. Ruthie smiled at Martin and Martin smiled back. They had a special relationship, being that they both had less than dramatic lives. It seemed like nothing interesting ever happened to them, and sometimes it was a curse. But they still managed, often together.

They weren't attracted to each other, though. Ruthie had Peter and Martin had…well…Martin didn't have a girlfriend at the moment, but that didn't mean he wasn't looking. He and Mac had been double-dating a lot lately, and Martin had met a lot of really nice girls. There just weren't any that he really cared about so far. Not after Cecilia dumped him the year before…

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight, Ruthie."

"Goodnight, Martin."

Ruthie stared after him as he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. With Matt and Mary both married and moved out, Lucy and Kevin married and expecting a baby, Simon busy with college and dating Cecilia, and her mom and dad involved in all of her siblings' hectic lives, Ruthie often felt rather alone.

Peter was a good enough boyfriend. He was caring, he was charismatic, he was persistent, but he just lacked that thing. Ruthie wasn't sure what "that thing" was; she just knew it was missing. She could feel it whenever she talked to him. He had been through so much with his dad being an alcoholic and his mom having to raise him alone for most of his life…he could just be cold sometimes.

Ruthie looked back at the magazine, not really seeing the page in front of her. She was too deep in thought. So the classes wouldn't be too much harder, Martin had said. And the teachers wouldn't be any meaner than they had been. Maybe she would even be lucky enough to get a nice teacher. That only left choosing the right crowd to hang out with…

In the past Ruthie had always been the one with the troubled friends, but she somehow seemed to help them through their problems. She didn't know how she did it, but she did. She hoped it was a gift, she hoped it was her calling – to help people. But whether it was or not, she had succeeded in it so far. All of the friends that she had comforted when they were down, given advice to when they felt helpless, and helped when they were in serious danger of hurting themselves, had all told her what a great friend she was. And she appreciated the fact that they appreciated her.

Setting the magazine on her nightstand and clicking off her lamp, Ruthie was greeted with soothing darkness. Her eyes became droopy and her blankets felt strangely more comfortable. As she drifted off to sleep, she thought about the day ahead. How bad could high school really be? She was probably just making a big deal out of nothing.

As she began dreaming, she decided that she would study hard, try to win her teachers' approval, and just be herself when it came to friends. Yeah…she would be herself. After all, that's the only thing she could be.


End file.
